As it seems people have missed the last part of my post...here it is again..
please scroll right to teh bottom :)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Tarr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 3:37 PM
Subject: RE: Star Trek Politics
> At 09:58 AM 2/16/2004, you wrote:
>
>
> >>From: "Jim Sharkey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >>Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >>Subject: Star Trek Politics
> >>Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 09:22:10 -0500 (EST)
> >>
> >>
> >>A forum I frequent has been having a discussion of how one would
> >>describe the political system of the United Federation of Planets.
> >>It seems to me to combine traits of two systems I generally don't
> >>think of as compatible, that is almost a sort of democratic
> >>communism. I'd be interested in seeing what other people thought,
> >>especially since I think most of the folks here are more politically
> >>and SF-ally savvy than this other group.
> >>
> >>Jim
> >
> >You know it's funny. A friend of mine and I had a similar discussion not
> >long ago. We as well, came to the exact same conclusion, worded exactly
> >the same way. It's almost a sort of democratic communism. Democracy is
> >implied, whereas communism appears to be frequently implemented. However
> >one must look at the broad spectrum of things, so I think that it's more
> >accurate to say that it's a marriage of two distinct political systems,
as
> >democracy really is more than implied.
> >
> >-Travis
>
> There's some quote I hear on TV cop shows, but can't remember exactly now.
> Something like "three coincidences make a conspiracy"? A forum I read had
a
> thread about star trek and politics. It was close but the majority
rejected
> the idea of a socialist democracy, what I would call it more than
> democratic communism. I've tried to jump start that discussion here a few
> times. I think star trek has altruism and transparency as two foundations.
> There may be whole groups that live at sustenance levels, just with
> food/clothing/shelter without supporting themselves, but as soon as they
> ask for more they are told to work for it.
>
> Think about Tasha Yar's homeworld. If I recall correctly, an earth colony
> that fell into decades of chaos. The people stopped being altruistic. And
> if the government on Earth was truly communism I doubt the downfall would
> last as long as it did. It seems that the time between Kirk and Picard was
> a golden age. The Romulans went into hiding, the Klingons were uneasy
> allies. Was the Cardasian war really that big? So why did the federation
> turn a blind eye to her planet?
>
> Kevin T. - VRWC
> Glad to talk about something important
>
I tend to agree with you guys here on this one however after i thought about
it for a few more minutes I realised that.... i was making a top post......
> >From: "Jim Sharkey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >Subject: Star Trek Politics
> >Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 09:22:10 -0500 (EST)
> >
> >
> >A forum I frequent has been having a discussion of how one would
> >describe the political system of the United Federation of Planets.
> >It seems to me to combine traits of two systems I generally don't
> >think of as compatible, that is almost a sort of democratic
> >communism. I'd be interested in seeing what other people thought,
> >especially since I think most of the folks here are more politically
> >and SF-ally savvy than this other group.
> >
> >Jim
> >
>
> You know it's funny. A friend of mine and I had a similar discussion not
> long ago. We as well, came to the exact same conclusion, worded exactly
the
> same way. It's almost a sort of democratic communism. Democracy is
implied,
> whereas communism appears to be frequently implemented. However one must
> look at the broad spectrum of things, so I think that it's more accurate
to
> say that it's a marriage of two distinct political systems, as democracy
> really is more than implied.
>
> -Travis
>
> _________________________________________________________________
.......It isnt a democratic communism at all. I thought it would have to
be Representive Communism, to me that is more or less a Socialist style of
govement. Again however from all that we know of the UFP and its govermental
rambling's it is neither and based more on the UN ssytem of today then to
any other form of ruling body. All planets in the UFP sends embassadors to
the Federation Council, adn a Leader, aka the Presdient of the UFP is
elected either by the "general assembly" of the UFP or is done through a
general election of the population of the Federation. Personally I think
that teh Formaer is more likely, as a general election that spans almost
half of a Quadrant would be a little taxing to say the least.
As we know form Picard, "The economics of the future is quite
different,..." All of mans, adn aliens, basic needs are taken care of. free
medicare coverage, free education, free food. However we also know that
there exists, Gold Pressed Latnium for trade and currencey throughout the
beta and alpha quadrants. Although there is no need for money because all
things are taken care of by the federation, there still exists Federation
credits, received for pay. As utopian that this society seems there is still
the seperation of haves and have nots, its just that the spread is never all
that big. In short this to me is the area in which the socialism resides,
not the communism.
Nick "worst speller ever" Lidster
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